According to the quarterly report on Uruguayan economy, Uruguay in Focus, made by the Ministry of Finance, the economic activity in Uruguay picked-up during the third quarter of 2016, despite recessions in neighboring countries. Leading economic indicators, consumer confidence and record-high tourist arrivals during the summer season suggest that growth momentum, carried into the last [...]

According to the quarterly report on Uruguayan economy, Uruguay in Focus, made by the Ministry of Finance, the economic activity in Uruguay picked-up during the third quarter of 2016, despite recessions in neighboring countries.

Leading economic indicators, consumer confidence and record-high tourist arrivals during the summer season suggest that growth momentum, carried into the last quarter of 2016 and the beginning of 2017.
Also, inflation has continued to decelerate, closing 2016 at 8.1% year-over-year, down from a 11% in May 2016.

The 2016 consolidated fiscal deficit was equivalent to 4.0% of GDP. Fiscal consolidation measures came into effect in January, aimed at reaching a 2.5% overall deficit by 2019. The current account deficit (CAD) shrank to 0.7% of GDP, the lowest figure in the last six years. Given the solid international reserve position and the financing of the CAD through foreign direct investment inflows, external stability risks remain contained.

On December 26th, the Japanese credit rating agency Rating and Investment, affirmed Uruguay`s (“BBB-) rating, while keeping the positive outlook unchanged.
In R&I’s view, the government has reinforced its commitment to fiscal consolidation, and the economic outlook has been brightened particularly through stronger investment. Nevertheless, given the uncertainty of the external environment, economic trends and execution risks for fiscal and monetary policies continue to warrant attention according to R&I. A rating upgrade will become more likely if a steady implementation of a fiscal consolidation plan can be envisaged.

Uruguay reduces carbon footprint in energy production by investing heavily in renewables sources

In 2016, the country’s low-carbon mix of wind, solar, biomass and hydropower made up 57% of the country’s entire energy mix, which includes transportation fuel. In comparison, the share of renewables in the total global energy mix hovers at around 12%, and is around 20% on average in Europe.
Furthermore, these renewable resources contribute 94% of the country’s electricity generation. Over the last decade, Uruguay became the Latin American country with the highest share of wind- generated electricity.

Uruguay remains a bastion of social, political and institutional stability in Latin America

Across a wide range of reports recently released by international organizations, Uruguay continued to show during 2016 the highest level of institutional quality and rule of law, the lowest perceived corruption and the strongest inclusive growth among its Latin American peers. It has also improved its ranking position in the world in several other indicators such as regulatory enforcement, independence of justice, peace, democracy and press freedom.

After the meeting with Uruguayan president Tabaré Vazquez, German chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped to make progress in negotiations for a free trade agreement between Germany and the Mercosur. Before the visit of president Vazquez, Merkel talked about Uruguay in her weekly radio program. She said that Germans know about Uruguay because its “good [...]

After the meeting with Uruguayan president Tabaré Vazquez, German chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped to make progress in negotiations for a free trade agreement between Germany and the Mercosur.

Before the visit of president Vazquez, Merkel talked about Uruguay in her weekly radio program.

She said that Germans know about Uruguay because its “good football”, but they were many more things that connected Germany and Uruguay. “We know that Uruguay had a very positive development in these last years, and that is the reason because I’m very happy about the visit of president Vazquez. The country has made a huge progress fighting poverty and is a good example for Latin America. Uruguay has a very liberal democracy, a strong law system and an orientation trough sustainability and environmental care. All of this has strengthened our ties, but our bilateral relationship can be stronger. And this is why this visit is very important”.

“For Uruguay the relationship with Germany has an strategic and multifunctional character” –said president Tabaré Vazquez in a press conference after the meeting with Merkel. “Germany can find in Uruguay a trustful partner; stable, respectful of agreements and institutions and which is a linchpin in the region’s relations and coexistence”, he added.

“We talk about the values that are the foundation of our policies and Uruguay is impregnated with these values” –said Merkel after the meeting- saying also that Vazquez “has an strong interest in bilateral cooperation”.

She highlighted that Uruguay is trough an investment plan and that Germany could be a part of it. She expressed that a letter of intention will be signed and Germany could participate in investments in rail infrastructure and renewable energies.

Merkel said Uruguay could prove a “motor” toward bringing negotiations to a free trade agreement between Mercosur and Germany.

“Germany is a fundamental member of the European Union,” Vazquez said. “We have committed to keep pressing the negotiations to reach an agreement between Mercosur and the EU.” The president pointed out that Uruguay “has historically advocated for the demolition of barriers and the elimination of obstacles to commerce.”

“Uruguay is an example of a very responsible international policy –added Merkel- “It’s has been very successful in its fight against poverty and sustainable development”.

She also said that Uruguay has the best Gini coefficient in Latin America and has the lowest level of income inequity of the region. “Both countries have a lot of common in order to intensify our cooperation”.

Maria Noel Riccetto first dancer of the Ballet Nacional Sodre (BNS) received a nomination for the Prix Benois de la Danse, one of the most prestigious ballet awards. Founded by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1992, the award is considered the “Ballet Oscar” and takes place each year. The members of the jury [...]

Maria Noel Riccetto first dancer of the Ballet Nacional Sodre (BNS) received a nomination for the Prix Benois de la Danse, one of the most prestigious ballet awards.

Founded by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1992, the award is considered the “Ballet Oscar” and takes place each year. The members of the jury change every year and consists of only top ballet personalities.

Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of lifelong achievement, ballerina, danseur, choreographer, composer and designer.

The nomination was announced by Julio Bocca, BNS director, jury in this edition and winner of the prize in 1992.

The idea for the Benois de la Danse was initiated in Moscow and the founders succeeded in obtaining the patronage of UNESCO in the autumn of 1991. Its scheduling at the end of April is meant to coincide with the birthday of the great historian and stage designer Alexandre Benois (1870–1960) for whom it is named.

French sculptor Igor Ustinov designed the statuette of the Benois de la Danse award in 1992.

Riccetto, who was nominated by her role as Tatiana in the ballet Onegin, said that being nominated is “already an award”.

The BNS announced its 2017 season that will start on March 23 with a rendition of Boris Eifman’s Russian Hamlet.

From Uruguay, Juan Campodónico has leaded an assortment of musical projects of international projection. At the end of the nineties he was part of the rock and hip-hop band Peyote Asesino. At the beginning of the XXI century he created Bajofondo, along with Argentinean producer Gustavo Santaolalla, a project that toured many times the world [...]

From Uruguay, Juan Campodónico has leaded an assortment of musical projects of international projection. At the end of the nineties he was part of the rock and hip-hop band Peyote Asesino. At the beginning of the XXI century he created Bajofondo, along with Argentinean producer Gustavo Santaolalla, a project that toured many times the world and also won several awards, including the Grammy. He also worked as a producer with the Academy Award winner Jorge Drexler and the Latin Grammy winners Cuarteto de Nos, among others.

Campo, the band leaded by Campodónico, which carries Uruguay’s Country Brand around the world, is about to realease a new album. Tambor del Cosmos will be released in April, trough Sony Mexico, from which thesingle “Bailar Quieto” is out now as advance.

On February 24 Campo will be playing at Medio y Medio in Punta del Este,on March 31 the band will be part of The Lollapalooza Festival in Buenos Aires, and in April they will head Mexico to present the new album.

-How important is your place in the world for your projects? Do you think international audiences perceive your music as different because it comes from Uruguay?

-I don’t know how other people perceive it, but I do feel that in my music there is an intention to show where I am from. I am influenced by thatso Itry to give my music an identity. We can’t sell rock and roll to the United States, since they conquered the world with it. The music I make has strong ties with rock, but heard from a different place,in contrast with other music and mixed with other things. I believe it´s fine to accept the influences you can have in your music in a natural way. They represent how you see the world from this place.
With Campo we try to stay in tune with new trends, , create something new, and to be on the same pageas the globalized world; but at the same time what we are saying comes from another place, and that makes a big difference.. Having an identity, a personality, makes your music stronger and are basic values in the artistic world.

Does this explain the interest that has been awakened by Uruguayan music in the region and the world?

-Artists in Uruguay started taking music more seriously in the past 15 years. And the music expanded and grew considerably. From being a marginal and more amateur activity to now, where there is a lot of people working professionally around music, not just musicians. It had a positive input in a lot of things. Uruguay improved its self-esteem trough its cultural products in the last years, and I include football in this.
Also having Uruguayan musicians playing and touring around the world has been influential, because people relate with different sensibilities trough music. It is very powerful, because it’s a relationship made trough a sensitive channel, a more human thing than diplomatic, economic or political channels.

These kinds of relationships are good to strengthen your identity. Because, if you are isolated, you don’t have any needs to express who you are.
In Argentina, for example a lot of Uruguayans musicians are appreciated and loved. Musicians like No Te Va Gustar, La Vela Puerca, El Cuarteto de Nos or Jaime Roos are extremely popular in Argentina.

-Campo is about to release a new album. How do you start the process of making a new record?

-Creative processes are very long. Sometimes they are related with music and sometimes not. With this album, Tambor del Cosmos (Cosmos’ Drum), the idea, which is implied in the title, about the music resonance and how this vibration can be an atomic thing connected with everything came to me after reading a book on African philosophy called Africa y El Tambor (Africa and the drum), written by Argentinean Beatriz Hilda Grand Ruiz. The book is about African culture and how their worldview came from their connection with percussion. This idea inspired me a lot and was an impulse. I always made music where the rhythm thing is very important. For me rhythm is art and science, is something essential. I think all contemporary popular music is influenced for this African vision about rhythm and percussion.
I was always interested in the physical relationship with music. I always dig the music that can make you dance but at the same time, lyrically or melodically could be melancholic; music with different layers and textures. This new Campo album has a lot of this kind of searches.

-All your music projects seem based in teamwork. Bajofondo and Campo records are usually expanded with guest artists. How do you do to keep a personal touch working with so many people?

-In the Bajofondo case all these people are sharing some concepts that are set up from the beginning. The Bajofondo concept, which Gustavo Santaolalla and I create, could be described as revisiting music from the Rio de la Plata (Uruguay and Argentina) like tango and milonga with today’s tools, without closing the doors to different influences. The two of us are also producers and we like to see albums as complete works. We have a double pleasure, not just to do music together, but to work also with other artists in a concept. And we defined our own style. You recognize a Bajofondo tune in the first bar of music.
Campo is another world but it also has a concept behind it. Campo is more pop oriented, with more contemporary influences, ranging from cumbia to more global concepts.. The group of people behind the music is very important too. And part of the concept of both projects is that they are open groups opened to outside collaborators.

-And what happened with this collective approach when you work as a producer with artists with their own concepts and visions, for example in your work with Jorge Drexler?

-It depends on the case. The producer work is very wide. Sometimes you are a musical director, others a record engineer, sometimes and arranger, and many times a combination of all these things. I considered myself an artist who loves to do records, my own and other people’s records. In the case of Drexler we did various albums together and they were very different compared with each other. Jorge is a very solid songwriter, which comes with very finished ideas. But there are always things to contribute to; being different layers of sound or trying to expand arrangements. Part of the trick for a producer is to wide the dimensions of an artist work.
Sometimes I see my work as an adaptation of what my father did as a theater director (his father was Cesar Campodónico, director of the Theatrical Institution El Galpón). Grabbing a text, get actors to do the roles, develop ideas, search references and direct a mise-en-scene, including light, stage design…this is also the work of a producer. You see it from the outside but you work close to somebody, in this case a musician, who already has a text, a script, and you work with him in the mise-en-scene.

-You were touring the world for more than 15 years now. In all this time, do you experience a change in how people around the world perceive Uruguay?

It changed a lot. On one side, the globalization process widened the interest for different cultures. Also, for different reasons Uruguay experienced migrations of it population, being for political reasons in the 70´s or for economic reasons in the years after. Uruguayans that spread around the world carried Uruguay with themselves. And when they returned home, they brought with them lot of connections with the outside world.
I also noticed how the idea the people had of Uruguay changed in these years. Twenty years ago Uruguay was a very closed country and this has changed.
Many issues about Uruguay started to attracted people’s attention around the world. There was football of course, but also personalities like (former President) José Muijica, really attracted international attention. The style of Mujica that can be identified as typically Uruguayan was perceived as something very interesting, because his way of living was so different from other presidents. The same with different progressive laws passed here over the last years.
At the same time we have art and culture, which is not only music. Uruguayan movies started to be seen in the world and winning awards in international festivals. They were low budget productions, but they were very appreciated because they showed a different vision. People started to know more about us trough culture, football, and public personalities.
Someone said that the Uruguayan progressive laws, like marijuana legalization or egalitarian marriage were laws that costed very little money to implement, but made many people happy. This is part of the country spirit. Uruguay is a place where happiness is cheaper than elsewhere,and this is a great value.

]]>Uruguay Natural Marca Pais - Sitio OficialUruguay is one of the 20 best democracies in the worldhttp://marcapaisuruguay.gub.uy/en/uruguay-is-one-of-the-20-best-democracies-in-the-world/
Wed, 01 Feb 2017 16:34:28 +0000http://marcapaisuruguay.gub.uy/en/?p=23595

Uruguay is in the top 20 as a “full democracy”, according to the 2016 Democracy Index made by the magazine The Economist. For the first time, and after Donald Trump’s victory, United States is considered a “flawed democracy”. The 2016 ranking is leaded by Norway and has Uruguay in the 19th position, with a score [...]

Uruguay is in the top 20 as a “full democracy”, according to the 2016 Democracy Index made by the magazine The Economist. For the first time, and after Donald Trump’s victory, United States is considered a “flawed democracy”.

The 2016 ranking is leaded by Norway and has Uruguay in the 19th position, with a score of 8.17 out of ten. Uruguay highlights in some issues like “electoral process and pluralism” and “civil liberties” where it has the maximum score of 10.00.

Another topics like “functioning of government” (8.93) or “political culture” (7.50) have also good scores. The worst score is for “political participation”, where Uruguay has only 4.44.

Uruguayan democracy appears as the best in Latin America and Uruguay is the second placed Spanish-speaking country, placed below Spain, which is in the 17th position.

One of the particularities of the report is that the United States is downgraded from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy”, due to the “further erosion of trust in government and elected officials there”, according to the group’s website.

According to The Economist, Latin America is living a “populist hangover”, after various countries of the region are now in more “calm” political contexts, with the rise of “center-right” and pro-markets” governments, leaving behind “left populisms”, which were the answer to neoliberal policies in the past decades.

More and more tourists are deciding to travel independently, without previously booked tours or tourist packages, because they prefer to design their itineraries by themselves, with the help of the information they find trough the internet. Many people visiting Uruguay –especially European and US tourists- are looking for other activities beside sun and beaches. A [...]

More and more tourists are deciding to travel independently, without previously booked tours or tourist packages, because they prefer to design their itineraries by themselves, with the help of the information they find trough the internet.

Many people visiting Uruguay –especially European and US tourists- are looking for other activities beside sun and beaches. A lot of them are seduced by rural tourism, including visits to “estancias”, walks trough vineyards and olive groves, and they want to know the gastronomic traditions and the rural Uruguayan customs. But information about this kind of tourism is hard to find in the classic guides, which are frequently outdated.

Karen Higgs a British citizen, who has being living in Uruguay for 16 years, decided to create a website –entirely in English- for English-speaking tourists that could work as a guide about Uruguay. She called it Guru’Guay (guruguay.com).

The website includes –besides the classic information on how to get to Montevideo from the airport, the best way to travel from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, or where you can exchange currency- articles about farms that produce olive oil, where you can ride horses or milk cows. Also it includes information on accommodations in places like Carmelo (described as “The Uruguayan Toscana”), the best “wine routes” in Montevideo, Canelones or Punta del Este and the places where you can dance tango.

The difference

“The information that I offer is not a list of hotels or restaurants without knowing anything about them, as it usually happens in traditional guides. I recommend the activities and places I experimented and know personally. I recommend things that are special, representative of the country or something that is curious. Not necessarily the classic and well known places” -says Higgs. And she added that foreign visitors want an opinion and not only a description of the different destinations.

“Tourists are more and more independent, they use internet to plan their trips and are vey interested in bloggers that bring opinions and advices about what is worth a visit and when is best to do it” -she said.

Motivation

“A lot of tourists that came to Uruguay complained about how difficult was to find updated information about the country” -said Guru’Guay’s creator. She also said that most of the guides about Uruguay were not good and were made by people who hardly knew the country.

Supplement

Guru’Guay website received more tan 172 thousand visits the last year –mostly from The US- and only this January more tan 21,000 visited the site.

This drove Higgs to make the first guide about Montevideo published in Uruguay that is written in English. The guide is available in Amazon and in bookstores, museums and hotels in Uruguay.

Also she is making a supplement about Uruguayan beaches, farms and vineyards: topics she says are what tourists seek the most. “Meanwhile I am preparing a guide about Uruguay that surely will be out in 2018, because I have a few places left to know yet” -added Higgs.

She left Wales when she was 18

Higgs left Wales, her country of birth, after finishing high school, when she was 18. She worked many years in England, Costa Rica, Argentina, Spain and United States, as a journalist, musician and English teacher, among others things. In 2000, with her Argentinean husband they decided to live in Uruguay, because they considered it was the best place to raise their family.

The place where it all started. On April 1917 the Orchestra of Roberto Firpo premiered the tango “La Cumparsita”, written by Uruguayan composer Gerardo Matos Rodriguez at Montevideo’s La Giralda Café. Matos, a student from the faculty of Architecture, composed the melody as a march, for the carnival troupe organized by the Uruguayan Students Federation. [...]

The place where it all started.

On April 1917 the Orchestra of Roberto Firpo premiered the tango “La Cumparsita”, written by Uruguayan composer Gerardo Matos Rodriguez at Montevideo’s La Giralda Café.

Matos, a student from the faculty of Architecture, composed the melody as a march, for the carnival troupe organized by the Uruguayan Students Federation. The title was a play with the word troupe -“comparsa”- in Spanish. The young student let the score to Firpo, who arranged the march as a tango.

Hundred years later “La Cumparsita” is a synonym of tango. The melody is recognized all along the globe and is universally used when a reference to tango is needed.

As always happens in the art realm, the incredible popularity and validity of this composition born in Uruguay doesn’t have a unique explanation. The simplicity and the catchiness of the tune, or the tune openness to receive different arrangements and new interpretations, could be part of the explanation.

The centenary of the most well known tango in the world will be celebrated in Uruguay in different ways during 2017. Accompanying these celebrations a new place that commemorates the oeuvre and its composer has recently opened, receiving the Country Brand seal.

The Tango Museum La Cumparsita opened its doors in December at the historic landmark where the tune was premiered.

La Giralda bar was placed where the also historic and emblematic Palacio Salvo was later erected in 1928. The exact place where that orchestra played what would later be the Tango of all Tangos, was lost in time and memory. But, with blueprints and different researches, that historic place could be recovered. The museum is placed there.

To accede the place you have to enter at the Palacio Salvo (Pza. Independencia 846) and head to a mysterious little door at the end of a corridor. Crossing that door that remembers a speak-easy, a statue of Matos Rodriguez sit at a bar table, a phonograph in excellent working conditions, a landmark that remembers the exact place of the orchestra and a vast variety of memorabilia receive the visitors. The photos and documents were donated by the Agadu museum and by Matos Rodriguez’s grandnephew Rosario Infantozzi.

“It is not a traditional museum” –says director Mónica Kaphammel- “visitors will get information about tango in a very entertaining way”.

The museum is opened every day during the summer, from 9.30 to 16.30. The guided tours last 20 to 30 minutes, and can be combined with tours to the Palacio Salvo.

Kaphammel also says that from February 9, there will be thematic night dinners with tango dancers and a special “radio soap opera” where in a fictionalized dialog, Matos Rodriguez tells the origins of La Cumparsita.

The dinners will have a cost of 90 dollars and can be previously booked trough the museum web page or by the pone number +598 9595 2233.

Uruguay has maintained a constant economic growth from 14 years. In 2016 it experienced a 1,2% rise, despite falls in Argentina (-2.5%) and Brazil (-3.5%). Also, Uruguayan exports to its Mercosur neighbors went from being a half of its total exports to one-fifth. Finally, Uruguayans feel that they achieve to liberate their economy from the [...]

Uruguay has maintained a constant economic growth from 14 years. In 2016 it experienced a 1,2% rise, despite falls in Argentina (-2.5%) and Brazil (-3.5%). Also, Uruguayan exports to its Mercosur neighbors went from being a half of its total exports to one-fifth.

Finally, Uruguayans feel that they achieve to liberate their economy from the fluctuations of its two big neighbors, Brazil and Argentina. Decades walking hand in hand with the two Mercsur giants and now is time to celebrate a significant decrease in its dependence.

A country that made its own path

The Tabaré Vazquez administration could achieve a humble growth (about 1.2%), which is more valuable comparing recessions and crisis in Brazil and Argentina. The Uruguayan economy closed 2016 with better than expected results and continues a process started in 2003 during the government of Jorge Batlle. “To be self-indulgent would be a big mistake, but we have to admit that the tendencies changed in a positive way”, said Danilo Astori, ministry of finances, to the Argentinean newspaper La Nación.

Astori was minister of finances during the first period of the center-left coalition Frente Amplio administration (2005-2010), vice-president during the second (2010-2015) and again finance minister during this period. On one way or another he was the chief of finances during those three periods. All along with Vázquez and with the foreign affairs minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa they work in a plan to broaden the country’s international insertion, with the pursuit of free trade agreements with the Pacific South-American region, Europe and China.

Economist Gabriel Oddone, from the consulting firm CPA Ferrere, said that “The numbers suggest that 2016 ended being better than expected, but the changes in the international scene challenge the recuperation in 2017”. He said that the economy is going towards “a world where the US monetary policy is going to normalize faster tan expected and Uruguay is relatively well prepared for that, because it improved its public finances in the past year. But for Argentina and Brazil it will be a problem and that affects the region. Uruguay will continue to growth, not much, but still growing”.

But this withdrawal from the region that the Vazquez administration celebrates does not satisfy everyone. The left bloc, which are majority in the Frente Amplio and have their more visible leader in José “Pepe” Mujica, reject this strategy and demand that Uruguay stays close to the region. Communists, tupamaros, orthodox socialists and other groups defend the concept of South America as the “Big Homeland” (Patria Grande), but the defeats of the “kirchnerismo” in Argentina, the impeachment of Dilma Roousseff in Brazil and the crisis in Venezuela, damaged the politic plans of these groups.

Pablo Ferreri vice-minister of finances, said to La Nación: “for our country it’s fundamental that we can sustain and intensify the cycle of economic and social growth we are experiencing from 14 years, in which social inclusion is a pillar”. In that sense the economic team will continue to promote investments and searching for commercial agreements, widening markets. “Uruguay doesn’t have a rigid or dogmatic model, it has an strategic path” –said Ferreri.

Regarding commerce and the withdrawal or not from the region he said: “In that scheme the international insertion is key for a little country like Uruguay, as much as for obtain productive investments –for services and goods, which generate good remunerated jobs- as for achieving exports.

The vice-minister said that Uruguay wants to fulfill “the search for commercial agreements with the Mercosur as a launch platform”. In the administration there is a certainty that the country can’t wait for its partners to progress at the same time, and Uruguay has to lead this strategy. “In a disrupted world, the most solid path to progress is to strengthen the regional integration processes” said Astori, but added: “We have to work hard to strength the regional processes, but this can’t be an end way for the country’s international insertion. We are trying that the Mercosur could be a launch platform”.

The path to independence

The inhabitants of the Banda Oriental that between 1828 and 1830 turned to be a independent country as a result of the peace agreement between the Brazilian Empire and the Argentinean provinces, were tied to these countries; politically independent but economically dependent. But now, while its neighbors are trying to escape from recession, Uruguay has a years of constant and unprecedented growth of its GDP.

Also, Uruguayan exports to Argentina and Brazil went from being half the total sales to less tan one-fifth. In 1998 the 52.3% of Uruguayans exports were to Argentina and Brazil, while in 2015 and 2016 they were 19.9%. Meanwhile China turned to be the main buyer of Uruguayan products. But, if we count services as tourism, the weight of Argentina is still very important.

Uruguay experienced between 2004 and 2014 the biggest economic prosperity of its history. Official statistics and studies made by specialists in economic history allow having registers from 1870. Before that the country lived traumatic periods trying to consolidate the republic. According to these studies, the actual period is the longest in economic growth.

Computing per capita GDP between 1916 and 1924, including a year of zero growth (1920), the period achieved nine years of constant growth. Between 1944 and 1954, despite that in 1951 it was no growth, the period lasted 11 years. But from 2004 to 2016 we have 13 years of GDP growth and if we count this year projections the growth will be 14 years long.

But the path was not easy. Drove by the wind in its neighbor countries, Uruguay stopped a period of growth at the end of the 1990’s. Argentina entered recession in the last trimester of 1998 and this happened in Uruguay too. In 1999 there was a crack in Brazil’s exchange rate, which aggravate the regional recession. The 2001 Argentinean financial crisis was reproduced in Uruguay in 2002. At the end of 2003 the Uruguayan economy started to rise. That year the GDP was slowly positive (+0.8%).

2004 was the last of the Jorge Batlle administration and it ended with a 5% growth, which continued in the first Vázquez administration (7,5% in 2005; 4,1% in 2006; 6,5% in 2007; 7,2% in 2008 and 4,2% in 2009). In the second Frente Amplio administration, with Mujica as president, the GDP continued to rise: 7,8% in 2010; 5,2% in 2011; 3,5% in 2012; 4,6% in 2013 and 3,2% in 2014.

Vázquez assumed its second administration (the third for the Frente Amplio) in a context of economic downturn and he take measures to fight a government deficit he considered disturbing. 2015 showed an improvement but very light, only 1%, enough to extend the cycle. En 2016 the recession fear was cleared and with the push of the second half of the year the tendencies indicates an improvement. And 2017 started with a record of summer tourists. Also, with a more equalitarian income distribution than others countries of the region, the growth was spread in all the social groups. Poverty reduces from a 40% in 2004 to less than 10% in 2015. The economic slowing-down stopped the improvement of these social indexes.

In the last year unemployment increased, but without reaching high levels: the annual average was 6.6% in 2014, it rises to 7.5% in 2015 and 7.9% in 2016. Inflation was controlled a the end of the year and closed in 8.1%, less than the 11% that was in the fall, but still out of the official target that is from 3% to 7%. The actual wage experienced a big growth, with an annual tax of 4.2% between 2005 and 2014, but it loosed strength, with a rise of 1.6% in 2015 and 1.4% in 2016.

Despite the GDP constant growth there are various sectors with problems like the manufacture industries, commerce and parts of the farming. Because of that the Uruguayan president insists in open new markets and obtain new investments. Recently the foreign affairs ministry announced that Vázquez will visit Germany, Finland and Russia in February to “intensify” the trade agreements with these nations. Another step in the “withdrawal” from their neighbors.

The business vision

For economist Pablo Rosselli director of Deloitte in Uruguay, an inquiry made by the consulting firm among the main companies of the country shows that from the majority of them “the worst has passed”, in relation with the deceleration and standstill of different sectors. “There are companies that still say that the situation of the company and the country is worst tan the year before, but they are less now. And we observe more favorable answers about the country perspectives for the next year”.

International tourism left the country more than 1800 million dollars. The number of Argentineans rise a 25%. While Montevideo is the most visited destination, more money is spent in Punta del Este. The Ministry of Tourism presented a report with the final figures of 2016 and its comparison with the numbers registered in 2015. During [...]

International tourism left the country more than 1800 million dollars. The number of Argentineans rise a 25%. While Montevideo is the most visited destination, more money is spent in Punta del Este.

The Ministry of Tourism presented a report with the final figures of 2016 and its comparison with the numbers registered in 2015.

During 2016 Uruguay received 3.328.450 tourists, 12.3% more than the quantity received in 2015. The Ministry of Tourism informed that the growth resulted in an increase of 3.3% of the profits the country obtains from tourism.

In 2016, 363,609 more people visited Uruguay than in 2015. While in 2015 visitors left the country 1.765.644.510 dollars in 2016 the numbers were more tan 1,824 million dollars. The 3.3% increase meant 59 million dollars more.

The 2016 numbers were also positive in terms of the trade balance, comparing the money spend by foreign visitors in the country with the outlay of Uruguayans abroad. Foreign tourists spend 909,224 million dollars more than Uruguayans did overseas.

Argentineans are still the main visitors and the numbers increased considerable in 2016. The 2.139.598 Argentinean tourists that arrived the past year represented a 25,4% more than the ones who arrived in 2015.

Brazilians were 432,442, a 0,8% more than in 2015.

There was also an increase of Chilean tourists and a little decrease of Paraguayans. The number of visitors from other nationalities was almost the same as 2015.

Montevideo, Punta del Este and the littoral coast among the preferred destinations

Montevideo continues to be the preferred destination, concentrating the 29% of visitors. In the second place is Punta del Este with an increase of 12% compared with 2015. The third place is for the “thermal littoral” and the fourth for Colonia, with increases of 16,9% and 10% respectively.

But the area with more growth of visitors was Canelones’ “Costa de Oro” (Gold Coast), with 36,1% more visitors.

Uruguay is placed in the sixth place among developing economies in the Global ranking of Inclusive Development Index. The world Economic Forum presented the report Inclusive Developing index (IDI) that measure the performance of 109 countries. The Inclusive Development Index (IDI) is based on 12 performance indicators. In order to provide a more complete measure [...]

Uruguay is placed in the sixth place among developing economies in the Global ranking of Inclusive Development Index.

The world Economic Forum presented the report Inclusive Developing index (IDI) that measure the performance of 109 countries.

The Inclusive Development Index (IDI) is based on 12 performance indicators. In order to provide a more complete measure of economic development than GDP growth alone, the index has three pillars — Growth and Development, Inclusion and Intergenerational Equity, and Sustainability. In these frameworks there are different sub-pillars like per capita income, labor productivity, media household income, health life expectancy, poverty, inequality, public debt and carbon emissions.

The index is divided in two: advanced economies in one side (the 30 more richest countries) and developing economies in the other. Uruguay is placed in this second group and is considered a country of medium high income.

Uruguay is sixth in this second index (that includes 79 countries), being the best placed Latin-American country, above Panama, Costa Rica, Chile and Argentina.

Among the advanced economies, Norway is at the top, followed by Luxembourg (2nd), Switzerland (3rd), Iceland (4th) and Denmark (5th). Other nations in the top ten advanced economies are Sweden (6th), Netherlands (7th), Australia (8th), New Zealand (9th) and Austria (10th).

Lithuania tops the list of 79 developing economies that also features Azerbaijan and Hungary at second and third positions, respectively. Others in the top ten are Poland (4th), Romania (5th), Uruguay (6th), Latvia (7th), Panama (8th), Costa Rica (9th) and Chile (10th). Romania has the same punctuation as Uruguay, but is placed in the fifth position due to a better performance in the past five years.

Uruguay has a global index of 4.53 (Norway, for example has 6.02), with an improvement of 4.2% in its global indexes considering the previous ranking.

Regarding the sub-index qualifications, Uruguay has an excellent performance in median income (first in the list of 79 countries), growth and development (fifth place), per capita GDP (sixth) life expectancy (eight). In the indexes to improve were Intergenerational Equity (42) and public debt (62).